ideas to repair my genie garage door opener ?

Equipment:
I have genie g5050 1/2 hp screw drive opener (about 12 years old) and a
20 ft (1 piece) wooden door with 2 center mounted torsion springs and cable
drums on the outer sides.
the GD repair company installed new springs and adjusted door about 1 year
ago, door looks straight/level and lifts fairly easily about half way up it
starts to go by itself a little and stops.
Problem:
Door started kicking back up 1/2 way down about 3 weeks ago. this slowly
got worse. Then door started to stall/stop about 1/2 way up. Now door will
kick back after couple inches travel in either direction starting at any
position you set the door.
if i disengage the door from opener and turn it on the screw will turn for
about 4-5 seconds then stop. i thought it used to just keep going till you
hit the button again ???
What i tried:
1- checked and tightened all hinges,
2- move door up/down to check for binding.
3- cleaned then adjusted the safety tension on the rear of opener
appreciate any more helpful ideas
r

I don't see any mention of anyone ever having lubricated the screw with
the special lubricant Genie sells. I lubed the screw-type Genie for the
guy next door and he thought I was a magician for making his door work
so much better (and quieter).

--
Postulate a God who\'s so smart He designed things we won\'t discover for the
next ten years, but who\'s so incredibly stupid He couldn\'t think up the

thanks for reply,
The GD company did lube it when they repaired it a year ago
1 torsion spring broke and the door racked and bent the tracks and bent
alot of hinges... the GD company replaced all the very bent stuff, 2 new
springs and replaced torsion tube, they lubed and adjusted everything,
yes, just as you said it was smooth and quiet for months.
thanks again and more ideas welcomed
robb

2 - Can't tell about binding by pulling/pushing on the door from the
bottom -- have to push/pull from the top where the closer arm is
attached (or at least near it) in order to tell what the opener is
"seeing" for resistance. Particularly in the close mode, pulling and
therefore, tension on the rollers/hinges/etc., is quite different than
pushing as the opener has to do.
One thing that can occur that is a little hard to tell on binding is
if there is a little bit of shift in the garage opening and the door
track gets a little too close to the frame at some point (typically
would be top/bottom depending on what moved). Happened here w/
similar symptoms and took me quite a long time to figure out the
"where" and "why" of the same tendency to want to reverse..
As for the run time w/o the door connected, it should run until the
traveler reaches the limit switches -- that's assuming they're
arranged like the chain drives I've worked on so the traveler hits
them even if not on the door. I suppose it would be possible to make
it such that it would run continuously, but I'd check that the why of
why it stops isn't the limit switches before assuming that's a
problem. If it stops and they're not hitting the limit switches, that
indicates there's another problem -- perhaps there's a gear bind
that's tripping the tension switch rather than the door itself being
the problem...
Just some random thoughts w/o having ever worked on a Genie or even
owned one and also w/o seeing you're problem(s) in action...

My old genie screw type opener had a clutch. It sounds like the clutch is
slipping causing the motor to stop. There is a double nut that is spring
loaded and the nuts are located at the back of the screw shaft.

a
year
slowly
for
you
I didn't know the technical name ... but i did try to adjust what you are
talking about
if i loosened it too much the door openeing problem worsened but would not
get any better if i tightened it.
the odd thing is it seem to make a difference in the resistance i had to
provide for the kick back to occur when it was closing for the couple of
inches that the GDO would move itbut it did not solve my problem
that is if i tried to hold / block door from closing with my hands when i
loosened the clutch the door would kick back immediately (no travel) with
little resistance, if i tightened it it would travel the 5 or so inches as
before while i tried to muscle it to stop.
thanks for ideas and help
robb

Argh, those one piece wooden doors are a PITA. I had one on a rental
property that I own. It's a townhouse complex with 12 units. Over time,
most of the owners have had to remove the one piece door and install a
tracked door. Between the warpage of the door (that causes binding) and
the weight of the door, the openers didn't last all that long. If you
got 12 years on a 1/2 HP opener with a 20 foot one piece door then count
yourself very lucky. I kept my one piece wooden door longer than most
owners, but I was out there changing springs, and planing the door when
the wood swelled and binded.

Replace the GDO with a 3/4 HP unit or replace the garage door with a
tracked door and get a new 1/2 HP unit.
With no door attached, the opener should run longer than 4-5 seconds,
depending on the settings of the limit switches.

a
cable
Yea, sorry i said wrong thing.... it is a sectional 5 piece with track i was
thinking something else when i said one piece.

thats what i thought i remembered it doing once when i forgot to engage door
to the GDO screw but i was not certain.
if this is expected behavior then there is definately something wrong in the
GDO as it runs maybe 2-3 seconds when door is disengaged and i hit the
remote button.
thanks for ideas and help
robb

Log in

HomeOwnersHub.com is a website for homeowners and building and maintenance pros. It is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.